With members of Congress fighting over the fate of
the expiring Bush tax cuts, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has put forward a
compromise that would maintain the current rates on all
earnings under $1 million. Even though Schumer's plan raises President
Obama's original threshold for letting upper-income tax cuts expire by a
multiple of four, Republican
lawmakers are sticking with their dubious
argument that such a plan would be unfair to small businesses across the
country.

Yesterday, however, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
undermined the credibility of his party's claims. While speaking on the Senate
floor, Alexander said that even though he opposes the proposal, he was
"delighted" by Schumer's willingness to target his own constituents for tax
increases. "Most of the people whose taxes he's trying to raise live in New
York," he said. "I mean, they're not in Tennessee. We're a relatively low
income state." Joking that Schumer's plan basically amounts to a "tax earmark,"
Alexander argued that it would "raise taxes on just a small number of people,
most of whom live on Wall Street in New York."

ALEXANDER: I'm delighted to hear the eloquence of
the Senator from New York. And as I was listening to him I was reminded
that the people — most of the people
whose taxes he is trying to raise live in New York. I mean they're not in
Tennessee, we're a relatively low income state. So I admire him for his
courage on — that's almost a tax earmark,
you know, to — to be so specific that we're gonna raise taxes on just a small number of people, most of whom live on Wall
Street in New York.